My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 311 There's no future in following Li Zicheng, let's surrender to the imperial court instead!

Thinking of this, Luo Rucai deliberately smiled and said:

"Eat, eat, eat! It's been so long since I've had this roast chicken."

Then came the sounds of hearty eating, echoing through the tent, as if he were truly enjoying the delicious roast chicken.

Upon hearing this, and then hearing the chewing sounds coming from inside the tent, the soldiers outside the tent were so tempted that their stomachs began to rumble.

But there was nothing they could do; after all, roast chicken wasn't something people like them could really eat.

These days they can only eat simple meals every day, and it's a luxury if they can eat meat occasionally.

Meanwhile, inside the tent, Luo Rucai deliberately made noise while eating, and quietly unfolded the note.

He moved very carefully, afraid of being discovered by the soldiers outside.

Immediately afterwards, a few words caught his eye:

We will storm the camp tomorrow night and surrender to the imperial court!
what?
Upon seeing the words on it, Luo Rucai was immediately taken aback. His eyes widened, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

Because he never expected that this guy in front of him would actually do such a thing!
This is no small matter!

If Li Zicheng finds out, they'll lose their heads!
Although he had just had the thought of parting ways with Li Zicheng, it was just a thought!
For a moment, Luo Rucai felt a surge of fear and didn't know what to do.

But the next second, Luo Rucai realized the implications. He knew the stakes involved, and without saying a word, he crumpled the note into a ball and swallowed it.

The movements were clean and swift, as if afraid of being taken away by someone else.

The next second, he continued loudly:
"Come on, let's keep drinking!"

The voice was loud and hearty, as if nothing had happened.

After saying this, he lowered his voice and looked at Yuan Dafu, asking:
"Do you know what you're doing? Have you all gone mad?"

Yuan Dafu gave a wry smile, then lowered his voice and said:

"Commander Luo, I'm not crazy. This is our last chance. If we don't surrender to the court now, the brothers will probably starve to death."

"You don't know, there's not much food left in the army. Li Zicheng is prioritizing the supply of food to his own camp, and the food for the brothers here has been greatly reduced."

"We used to be able to eat three meals a day, but now we only get one meal of rice and two meals of porridge a day. What are we supposed to do, brothers?"

"Following Li Zicheng is a dead end; let's surrender to the imperial court instead!"

As Yuan Dafu spoke, a helpless expression appeared on his face.

Upon hearing this, Luo Rucai frowned even more deeply.

He actually knew that Yuan Dafu was telling the truth, after all, Li Zicheng's side really didn't have much food left.

In this chaotic world, food is life; without food, the army cannot survive.

In this situation, Li Zicheng's priority was naturally to ensure the supply of his own elite troops; as for other troops, they were not really that important.

For a moment, the candlelight inside the tent flickered, stretching the surrounding shadows to varying lengths, as if menacing monsters were stirring in the darkness.

The next second, Luo Rucai suddenly burst into laughter again, the laughter so loud that the tent seemed to tremble slightly.

"Your alcohol tolerance is still as good as ever. I don't have enough wine. Buy some more, and we'll drink until we drop."

As he spoke, he slowly pulled a piece of silver from his pocket and lowered his voice, saying:
"Just tell them you're going to buy alcohol and find a way to get those two guys outside to leave. Then we can talk in more detail."

Yuan Dafu instantly understood, then he pretended to be drunk and stood up, reached for the silver on the table, and staggered out of the tent.

Outside the tent, a biting wind howled, making the tent curtains rustle loudly.

The two soldiers squatted there, rubbing their hands together. They had naturally heard the laughter and conversation coming from inside the tent, but since they didn't think anything of it, they didn't pay any attention to it.

At this time, although Li Zicheng's side is in dire need of supplies, as long as he is willing to spend money, he can still buy a lot of good things.

Therefore, the two guards thought that Yuan Dafu really wanted to take the money to buy wine.

When Yuan Dafu walked up to them, he suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something, and then patted his head in annoyance, saying:
"Oh dear, I've drunk too much, I can't even walk right now."

His voice was slightly slurred with drunkenness, and a blush appeared on his face.

The next second, he looked up at the two soldiers and continued:
"Brothers, why don't you run this errand for me? Just two jars of wine, and this silver ingot is yours."

As he spoke, he directly stuffed the silver into a soldier's hand.

The soldier's hand trembled slightly as he looked at the silver in his hand, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

This silver ingot was enough to buy ten jars of wine. After buying two jars, the remaining silver would all be theirs.

However, they also had some worries in their hearts, after all, their duty was to stay here and 'protect' Luo Rucai's safety.

If they suddenly leave, and the rebel leader blames them, they won't have a good time!
Then, one of them said with considerable difficulty:

"This is not right. We were sent by the King of Chuang to protect Military Advisor Luo. How can we leave?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Dafu grinned and said:

"It's alright, it's alright. I'll keep an eye on things here. It's no big deal for you two to make just one trip. What? Do you think it's not enough?"

As he spoke, he took out another piece of silver from his pocket and handed it over, one ingot for each person.

Now both of them had received the silver. Looking at the heavy silver in their hands, the balance in their hearts gradually shifted.

I couldn't help but think:

It's the middle of the night, so it shouldn't be a problem to leave for a while, right?

After all, the rebel leader didn't say that Luo Rucai was not allowed to meet with his former subordinates!

Thinking of this, one of them then smiled and said:
“In that case, my brother and I will go and make the trip. We’ll be right back in a moment.”

After saying this, the two left without stopping.

Once the two figures had completely disappeared from sight, Yuan Dafu cautiously turned back.

"Is the person gone?"

Luo Rucai asked in a low voice.

Yuan Dafu nodded quickly.

"I'm leaving. I checked it myself, and there's no one spying around."

Hearing this, Luo Rucai's tense nerves relaxed slightly, but then his brows furrowed again, his tone carrying a hint of displeasure and doubt:
"Who came up with this terrible idea?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Dafu smiled and then said:

"Reporting to Commander Luo, this was decided after several brothers gathered together and discussed it repeatedly."

"We originally planned to act tonight, but considering Commander Luo's safety and fearing we might implicate you, we decided to bring you along." Upon hearing this, Luo Rucai couldn't help but sneer inwardly. He knew all too well that these guys were just spouting high-sounding platitudes about being afraid of implicating him; in reality, they were nothing more than cowards who dared not take the risks alone.

After all, many people had tried to surrender to the court under cover of night, but they were all ruthlessly killed by Li Zicheng. Very few were actually able to escape and join the court.

These people probably thought of this too, which is why they wanted to drag him down with them. After all, Luo Rucai's brain is better than all of theirs combined.

Although Luo Rucai had figured things out, he didn't bring it up on the spot, since it wasn't time to break off relations yet.

At the same time, Luo Rucai already understood that he simply could not refuse this matter.

After all, these people were his former subordinates. If they defected and surrendered to the court, Li Zicheng would inevitably suspect him.

Even if Li Zicheng doesn't kill him, he certainly won't trust him anymore.

When that time comes, he probably won't even be qualified to drink porridge anymore.

Thinking of this, Luo Ru took a deep breath and tried to make his tone sound calm.

"Alright, I am aware of this matter. We will proceed as scheduled. However, before that, I need to make some careful plans. Therefore, you must remain still and not reveal any disloyal intentions."

"After all, if this kind of thing is discovered, everyone's life will be in danger."

"I will come to you tomorrow and tell you what to do!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Dafu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly assured him:

"Don't worry, Commander Luo, everything will be done according to your instructions, and we will not dare to slack off in the slightest."

Luo Rucai then nodded slightly.

Before long, the two soldiers who had been on duty returned carrying two jars of wine. They were panting, but very happy.

Upon seeing them return with wine, Luo Rucai and Yuan Dafu in the tent immediately resumed drinking, as if nothing had happened.

The two soldiers did not notice anything unusual and then returned to their respective posts outside the tent.

However, what they didn't know was that just now, the two people in the tent had finished discussing a major event that could change their fate.

More than half an hour later, Yuan Dafu finally got up unsteadily and took his leave.

After seeing Yuan Dafu off, Luo Rucai turned off the lights and went to rest.

Even in the darkness, Luo Rucai's eyes were wide open, and he was planning what would happen the next night!
He knew this was probably his only chance to change his fate.
Time flies, and the next day has arrived in the blink of an eye.

Although the snow had stopped, the entire campsite was still covered in a blanket of white.

The tents in the camp were low to the ground by the snow, resembling giant white mushrooms.

The distant mountains were also covered in white snow, resembling a sleeping dragon.

Since there was nothing to do that day, Li Zicheng did not summon Luo Rucai. Luo Rucai was happy to have some free time and slept until almost noon before waking up.

After a quick lunch, Luo Rucai began to wander around the campsite on his own.

His steps were neither hurried nor slow, but his eyes would occasionally scan his surroundings.

Although he was always followed by several men sent by Li Zicheng, he didn't care at all.

Soon, Luo Rucai arrived at the camp of Yuan Dafu and the others.

When everyone saw that it was Luo Rucai, they quickly stood up and greeted him.

Luo Rucai responded with a smile to each of them.

Most of these people were participants in the plan. Yuan Dafu had already told them about his discussions with Luo Rucai last night, so when they saw Luo Rucai arrive, they knew that he had come to inform them.

Therefore, each of them harbored ulterior motives, but on the surface they pretended to be nonchalant.

Sure enough, when no one was looking, Luo Rucai quietly slipped a wad of paper into Yuan Dafu's hand and whispered:

"Proceed according to this plan tonight, without fail!"

Yuan Dafu did not speak, but simply nodded slightly to Luo Rucai.

After leaving Yuan Dafu and the others' tent, Luo Rucai wandered around again, seemingly looking for someone.

He found it very quickly.

This man, named Shizai, was Luo Rucai's adopted son. Before Luo Rucai defected to Li Zicheng, he commanded Luo Rucai's personal guard and was Luo Rucai's absolute confidant!
Moreover, he was extremely intelligent and was known as "Little Cao Cao"!

However, he has never gotten along well with Yuan Dafu and others.

Luo Rucai walked straight up to Shizai, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Unknown, I've come to see you! You've grown even stronger in the few days I've been away!"

Shi Zai turned around and saw that the person who came was Luo Rucai, and he was very happy.

"Godfather, you've come!"

After saying this, he pulled Luo Rucai into his own tent.

The men Li Zicheng sent to monitor Luo Rucai saw this scene and couldn't follow him inside, so they could only stand obediently at the door.

Inside the tent, Shi Zai helped Luo Rucai sit down and poured him a cup of wine.

He actually wanted to pour Luo Rucai a cup of tea or hot water, but he had neither firewood nor tea, so he could only serve Luo Rucai the cheapest drinks.

As for why this is the case, the reason is quite simple: they are really short of firewood!
After all, an army of 600,000 had to cook every day, and in order to get enough firewood, they had stripped the surrounding mountains bare.

Even so, firewood was still insufficient. Only some high-ranking officers could use firewood to boil water for warmth. Apart from drinking some hot water during meals, others could only drink snow water to quench their thirst.

This has resulted in many people having diarrhea recently, making the entire camp smell terrible.

In addition, people freeze to death every day.

However, this was actually the norm for ordinary people in the late Ming Dynasty.
Of course, Luo Rucai did not complain about the inferior wine that Shi Zai handed him; he took it and drank it all in one gulp.

However, when Luo Ru handed the wine bowl to Shi Zai, he secretly slipped a note into Shi Zai's hand as well.

Shi Zai was slightly taken aback at first, but quickly realized what was happening and then said with a smile:

"Godfather, let me pour you another bowl of wine!"

After saying this, Shi Zai casually picked up the wine bowl and walked to the wine jar not far away. While pretending to pour wine, he secretly opened the note.

After reading the words above, Shi Zai's expression instantly turned to astonishment.

He never expected that Luo Rucai would dare to do such a thing!

But he quickly regained his composure, calmly crumpling the note into a ball and stuffing it into his mouth, while picking up his wine bowl and walking toward Luo Rucai.

(End of this chapter)